The Sea and I
by Henrietta Skylink
Summary: On a typical day of fishing out at sea, young fisherman Jackson Overland Frost is in for a surprise when he hauls in quite the catch...one far different from the norm. (Oneshot, in response to a prompt by midorigirl35.)


**A/N:** Hello my darling reader. (^ _ ^) I would first like to welcome you with a nice hot cup of Earl Grey and some freshly baked cookies. What you are about to read is a oneshot written in response to a prompt by midorigirl35 on Tumblr. The prompt was a Mermaid AU, and so, strangely inspired by it, I immediately began writing after seeing it and produced this within a short while. I did not mean much for it, only hoping that it would at least bring a smile to the face of whoever read it.

**Disclaimer:** Jackson Overland Frost and Elsa do not belong to me, but to Dreamworks Animation/William Joyce and Disney, respectively. Enough stalling from me, go and read on!

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**The Sea and I**

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At that very moment in time, Jackson Overland Frost couldn't believe his eyes.

_It…It just wasn't possible…It just couldn't be…_

Yes, as a fisherman's son, he had grown up enriched by all the chronicles and tales of the Sea of which generations of his family had lived off of for almost two centuries. A beautiful yet ferocious force, the sea was, but he marveled at it, he _embraced_ it like all his ancestors that came before him, and now, he stood in front of, possibly, one of its most iconic creatures of lore.

He had heard the fishnet's bell ring, the vigorous tinkling signifying another hefty catch for the day, and so, with a triumphant smile, he ran all the way to the other side of the boat and began hoisting it up, hoping for some big mackerel, or some tuna, a few mollusks here and there, and something he could keep for himself and have a nice dinner with.

He was not disappointed and before long the catch was coming onto the ship's hold, sprawled about for him to see, but what else the net had for him immediately left him at a loss for words.

It was a woman. She was a beauty out of this world, he would say, with ivory skin, and hair a platinum blonde, reminiscent of the first rays of sunlight on the break of dawn, laced with white and peach corals, but what shocked him most were her eyes, eyes bluer than any sapphire, bluer than the ocean depths. That wasn't what had him mesmerized, however.

She truly was out of this world, for as his eyes scanned her barely clothed form, all he saw beyond her hips were scales the color of the clearest skies and shimmered each time they were struck by light.

She had no legs, for she had a tail. A _fish's_ tail.

_…but it __**WAS**__._

Jack merely stood there frozen in place, his jaw slack as he gazed on, wide-eyed. In turn, the creature—_no_, the mermaid stared back at him nervously, fear evident in her eyes. Moments passed until Jack was snapped from his reverie by frustrated grunts and the sound of light thuds against the wooden floor.

It appeared the mermaid was struggling with the net. Jack noticed that the net was tangled around her tail, and her arms were desperately trying to wrestle them off, but in reality, all she was doing was making matters worse. She was getting absolutely nowhere.

Cautiously, he slowly began to close the distance between them, the apparent strength of her tail causing him to bite his lip nervously. When she saw him approaching, her actions became more frantic, and Jack finally spoke.

"H-Hold on! You're going to hurt yourself if you keep going on with that!"

The sound of his voice immediately halted her movements, and her eyes snapped back to him, confusion now mixing in with the ocean blue.

_She understood him._

So as to not scare her more than she already was, the young fisherman adopted a low posture with wide arms, to show that he did not mean any harm. She watched him, their eyes not leaving each other's until he was finally right next to her and untangling the net for her with skillful hands. As he was doing so, a breathless laugh escaped his lips, not bothering to turn and witness her bemused expression.

"Well, aren't you quite the catch?" He laughed, before taking her into his arms and walking over to the edge of his fishing vessel. "Sadly, I can't keep you. It's a good thing you wandered into _my_ net, though. I doubt anyone else would be nice enough to let you go immediately afterwards."

Jack stood at the edge of the open side of the boat and took one hard look at her face, memorizing every curve, color, and detail, knowing very well this would be the first and the last time he'd see her. She only blinked back innocently. He smiled.

The snow-haired fisherman lowered himself to his knees and gently eased the mermaid into the water, eventually letting her sink in altogether. The moment he let go of her, she dove deep into the water and resurfaced, gleefully performing a backflip and splashing saltwater about. What he did not expect was for her to swim back to him.

"What is your name?" She asked, her voice so rich and melodious it stunned him for a few seconds before he blinked himself back to reality and stuttered a reply.

"J-Jack. It's Jack."

"Jack…" She tested the single syllable on her tongue tentatively. "_Jack_." She repeated, committing it to memory, and after a moment of contemplation, she looked up at him with a warm, genuine smile. "I'm Elsa. Thank you…for helping me."

_Elsa. What a beautiful name…_

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry my net caught you in the first place, Elsa. Really I am." He apologized, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Elsa laughed, shaking her head.

"_Thank you_."

Jack was about to say don't mention it, but before he could, her slender arms wove themselves around his neck and she pulled his face down to hers, pressing their lips together in a single soft kiss that seemed to last for an eternity. To say Jack was surprised would have been an understatement, but his eyelids slowly fluttered shut and he leaned in, kissing her back.

Eventually, she released him, and with one last smile, she took off, swimming away to the furthest his eyes could see.

For the next day, and the days that followed, an all too familiar voice would sing this lovely, unearthly tune coming from the sea, from the time he would set out of his house, board his boat, and take it out into the waters to fish. There, Elsa would come to him and play tricks on him. Tapping, poking, and prodding when he wasn't looking, until one time, she decided to pull him into the water with her, and they both emerged laughing, childish mirth filling the air.

And as Jack gazed on at her beautiful, smiling face, a single thought ran through his mind.

_I am Jackson Overland Frost. I am a fisherman. I love the Sea, and in return, she loves me._

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...and that concludes our little oneshot. I do so hope you enjoyed it, even just a little bit.

By the by, I am starmageasuka from Tumblr. I am an artist and a writer whose own works are regularly found in the jelsa tag on Tumblr. If you liked this little thing, I believe you may find my Jelsa artworks to be something to amuse yourself with as well. Currently, I am working on the Celtic AU which is still lacking a title, and the Sibling AU, titled "A Sibling Affair". Both are currently under work. I hope to see you again soon. (^ v ^)


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